The Gate to Everything (Once Upon a Dare Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

he could look into her eyes. “You should have let me come with you, Grace.”
    She hadn’t been able to face the thought of him accompanying her. It would have been too intimate. But seeing the baby on the ultrasound was the nudge that had finally made her reach out to him. There was a baby growing inside her, their baby, and she couldn’t hide from that reality anymore.
    “Water under the bridge,” she simply said.  
    He pursed his lips, clearly unhappy with her answer. “Do they know what…it is yet?” His gaze tracked to her stomach again.  
    It was weird, having people stare at her belly. The smell of food had made her violently sick, so while most people waited to share the news until after the first trimester, she hadn’t been able to hide it from her colleagues at the restaurant, either in Atlanta or in Rome.  
    “I hope it’s all right, but I want the baby’s gender to be a surprise.” Waiting to learn about the sex was like waiting to unwrap a present under the Christmas tree. “You can ask the doctor if you’d like, but you have to promise not to tell me.”
    Those serious glacier-blue eyes studied her for a long moment before he nodded. “If you want to wait, I’ll wait.”
    For Jordan, it was a compromise. He hated to wait. When they were kids, he always used to shake all of his Christmas presents to guess what was inside. In fact, he still did. While she’d always been a pro at waiting. Hadn’t she been with him for seven years with no sign of marriage? She’d been a fool.
    “I have a picture.” She walked over to the drawer where she kept important papers and drew out what the doctor had given her. “The baby doesn’t look very big now, but my doctor says everything is on course.”
    He took the picture from her with shaking fingers. The black and white photo showed a small form suspended as if in midair. She’d gazed at it a hundred times since yesterday, and it still awed her to see the small head and the tiny fingers and toes.  
    “I need to sit down,” he said, grabbing a chair. “I know you told me, but somehow it seemed unreal until…this. Holy…crap. I really am going to be a father.”
    She was happy he’d corrected his language this time. “I’m so sorry, Jordan. This isn’t…at all like we’d expected, is it?” Visions of them together in that beautiful yellow house in Deadwood flashed and faded.
    “I’m sorry too,” he said hoarsely. “You…you don’t deserve this.”
    She hugged herself so she wouldn’t go to him. “Takes two to tango, as they say. It’s not…ideal…but it is what it is.”
    She poured him freshly brewed coffee as he set the picture of their baby aside as if it were an ancient scroll that could crumble from the slightest force. She made sure their fingers didn’t touch when she handed it to him. After pouring herself more tea, she went back to the table and sat down with him.
    He set the mug aside untouched. “How are you feeling?”
    She gave a dramatic eye roll. “I’ve been as sick as a dog every morning for more than a month now. Just like Mom, it seems. She tells me it will get better.” Grace prayed that was true. Morning sickness sucked.
    “When is the baby due?” he asked haltingly. “August, right?”
    “August 17, they’re saying.” She was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around that date being one that would change her life forever.  
    “I want to be there, Grace. For the birth.”
    She met his gaze. On some level, she’d hoped he would want to be there. After all the pictures of him partying, she hadn’t been sure what he’d want. But faced with his request, she wasn’t sure how she felt about it either. Part of her wanted nothing more than to have him urging her on as they welcomed their child together. That image was easy to see. He was a natural coach as a quarterback.  
    “I’m not sure, Jordan.” She wet her lips nervously. “We’ll have to see.”
    His jaw clenched, but he didn’t